Hugh Orr

Orr, Hugh

Hugh (Morton) Orr. Recorder player, teacher, instrument builder, b Toronto 7 Jan 1932. In turn he studied piano, cello (with Isaac Mamott), and recorder, playing the latter instrument (1955-63) with the Pack Trio and Quartet. Besides pursuing a radio and TV career as arranger, conductor, and performer, Orr has appeared in recital (solo and ensemble) and has lectured in Canada and the USA. His repertoire includes medieval, baroque, and contemporary music, much of it arranged by himself. Author of the two-volume Basic Recorder Technique (Toronto 1960), he taught privately for many years and joined the Faculty of Music of the University of Toronto in 1972 and continued teaching there in 1990. He had made more than 40 recorders and crumhorns by 1977. In the mid-1980s he turned his attention to electronic music and has worked in his own studio.